The Associated Press reports that an officer who was arrested for killing 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis in November of 2015 was finally sentenced after over a year of legalities. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Jeff Landry said that former officer Derrick Stafford of Louisiana will serve 40 years for manslaughter, and then an additional 15 years for attempted manslaughter. At his current age of 33, these concurrent sentences mean he more than likely will not be a free man until sometime after his 88th birthday.
Reports indicate shots were not necessary
The circumstances that led to the boy's killing are a clear example of the officer's use of excessive force. Video from an officer's body camera indicates that the child's father, Christopher Few, was unarmed and unthreatening when Stafford and another police officer, Norris Greenhouse, Jr., fired 18 rounds into the vehicle he was sitting in. Both Stafford and Greenhouse, Jr. were subsequently arrested, though reports claim Greenhouse's trial isn't slated until sometime later this year.
Prosecutors and the accused have two different versions of events
According to a testimony by Stafford, he didn't know the boy was in the car when he fired his weapon, and he also didn't see Christopher Few's hands in the air.
He claimed that he only shot at the car because he feared the driver was going to back up and attempt to run over Greenhouse. However, prosecuting attorneys claim that both Stafford and Few actually fired at the car from a safe distance and that neither man was in harm's way. AP reports that the other two officers present at the scene didn't fire their weapons at all.
In fact, Marksville Police Lt. Kenneth Parnell, the officer who captured the shooting via body camera, testified that he didn't fire because he wasn't in life-threatening danger.
Cop's defense couldn't justify claims
Stafford's defense reportedly tried to place the blame on Few, suggesting that it was his reckless driving that led to the high-speed chase that ended with Few ramming into one of the officer's vehicles and prompting gunfire.
Prosecutors were quick to point out that no matter the events leading up to the murder, none of the actions taken by the father could justify taking the life of an innocent child.
In an interesting spin-off of what could be considered more common circumstances, both former officers are black, and Few and his now deceased son, white.
